Father Figure
by Tyger Magick
Summary: Caitlin finds a father figure in a place she never thought she would ~ Short Very Short
1. Dinner

AN: This is my first CW fanfiction. Please review. It's kind of short.  
  
Caitlin's Diary -  
  
Dori and I get along so well most of the time. I really feel like I can talk to her. Well about some things anyways. She takes time to listen to me. She seems to understand some of the things I'm going through.  
  
Jim on the other hand is a different story. I can't talk to him about anything. I wish I had a dad I could talk to, but mine hasn't been around since I was three. None of my foster fathers have ever cared. In fact some of them did more than not care, but that was then and this is now. I just wish I had a real father figure once in a while.  
  
~~~~  
  
It was raining out. Dori had left earlier that day for a Veterinary conference somewhere out of town. Caitlin had finished tending to bandit and ran inside the house. By the time she got inside her black jeans, and green sweater were soaked and sticking to her skin. She had worn her hair down and it fell it wet strands around her face.  
  
"Caitlin," Jim said, when he heard the door shut. "Is that you?"  
  
"Yeah," She replied walking into the kitchen.  
  
Jim was cooking at the stove when she turned the corner to the kitchen. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a blue button up collared shirt. His outfit was complete with black boots.  
  
The air smelled of steak and sweet potatoes. Caitlin hated sweet potatoes. Jim loved them though. Dori would usually make sweet potatoes for Griffin and Jim, and regular potatoes for herself and Caitlin. Caitlin was willing to bet that Jim hadn't noticed she didn't like sweet potatoes.  
  
Jim turned around and looked at her. "You're soaking wet."  
  
"You noticed huh." She replied sarcastically.  
  
"Why don't you go upstairs and get dried off. Dinner should be ready in a few."  
  
"Where's Griffin?"  
  
"He's staying the night at Eric's. They wanted to get a head start on some project."  
  
"So it's just the two of us?"  
  
"That's ok isn't it?"  
  
Caitlin nodded. "Yeah, it's just that we've never been home alone by ourselves before."  
  
"Well there's a first time for everything. Now go change before you get sick."  
  
Caitlin didn't say anything she just turned around and went up to her room.  
  
Twenty minutes later she came downstairs dressed in a pair of gray sweat pants, red shirt, and white socks. Her still wet hair was pulled back into a pony tail. Jim was putting there plates on the table as she walked into the kitchen. He looked up and smiled at her.  
  
"Feel better?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Thunder boomed loudly over head, causing Caitlin to jump. Jim frowned a little.  
  
"I didn't know you were afraid of thunder Caitlin."  
  
"I'm not," She stated defensively. "It just caught me by surprise that's all."  
  
Even as she said thunder roared and she jumped again. Jim knew Caitlin wouldn't admit her fear and decided to let it slide.  
  
"Why don't we eat."  
  
The young girl nodded and sat at the table across from Jim. He had cooked her steak, green beans, and she was surprised to see regular potatoes on her plate.  
  
"Everything okay?" Jim asked, noticing her staring so intently at her food.  
  
"Yeah, I just didn't know..never mind."  
  
"You didn't know what?"  
  
Caitlin sighed. "I didn't know that you realized that I didn't like sweet potatoes."  
  
"Why would you think that?"  
  
She shrugged. "I don't know. I mean we never really talk or anything."  
  
"Caitlin I know we're not very close, but that doesn't mean I don't notice or don't care. I do care about you Caitlin. You know that don't you."  
  
"I know," She said picking up her fork. "Let's just forget about it and eat."  
  
Jim nodded and smiled. "Good idea."  
  
It was basically silent through out the rest of the meal. Small talk was made here and there, but didn't last for more than a minute of two. Both were so uncomfortable around the other that neither knew what to say or do.  
  
As soon as Caitlin was done eating she rinsed her plate and put it in the dishwasher.  
  
"Hey Caitlin you want to watch TV?" Jim asked getting up to put his own dish in the dishwasher.  
  
"No thanks. I'm not feeling too well. I think I'm just going to go to bed."  
  
"You're not coming down with anything are you?" Jim asked concerned. He had noticed her looking a little flushed during dinner, but didn't think much of it.  
  
Jim went to feel her forehead for a fever, but she backed out of the way.  
  
"I'll be all right. I'm probably just overly tired or something."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
Caitlin nodded. "Yeah I'm sure."  
  
"All right," Jim replied. "I'll be here if you need anything."  
  
"Thanks," Caitlin said as she walked out of the kitchen and upstairs to her room.  
  
She really wasn't feeling well. She felt so hot and her throat was beginning to hurt. She was beginning to have a headache as well. Caitlin climbed the stairs into her bedroom and fell onto her bed. She didn't bother to get under the covers. Things were hot enough already. With in moments she was asleep. 


	2. Nightmares and Screams

AN: Here's part two. Please review  
  
Jim was watching an old episode of Miami Vice on TV. Caitlin had gone to bed over an hour ago and besides the storm, things had been quiet ever since. Dori had called to check on things and Jim had reported that everything was fine. He didn't mention Caitlin being sick. He didn't want to worry Dori while she was out of town. The two then talked for a while and said there 'I miss you's' and 'I loves you' and hung up for the night.  
  
That was twenty minutes ago. Jim had been relaxing watching TV ever since. In fact he was enjoying the fact of having a little alone time to himself. Caitlin was asleep, Griffin and Dori were gone, so beside Caitlin's room, he had the house to himself.  
  
He sat back on the couch and propped his feet on the coffee table, when he heard a scream come from upstairs.  
  
"Caitlin!" Jim shouted as he jumped off the couch and ran upstairs.  
  
He threw open the door to Caitlin's room and ran inside her room. Jim didn't know what he expected to find, but Caitlin thrashing around in bed was not it.  
  
He let out a sigh of relief and walked over to her bed. He reached out his arm to wake her up, but stopped when Caitlin started talking in her sleep.  
  
"NO! I'M SORRY! DON'T HURT ME ANYMORE!"  
  
Jim's jaw dropped. What was Caitlin dreaming about? He reached out and gently shook her shoulder. Caitlin screamed again and tried so hard to get away from his touch that she rolled over onto the floor.  
  
"Caitlin!" Jim said going around to the other side of the bed. "Are you all right?"  
  
Caitlin sat up on the floor and looked around. Her eyes were still glazed over from sleep.  
  
"Caitlin," Jim said gently reaching out a hand to her.  
  
She crawled back from his touch until she was against the wall. Thunder crashed loudly and Caitlin screamed.  
  
"Caitlin it's okay. It's me Jim."  
  
Caitlin looked up at him and shook her head. "I think I'm going to be sick."  
  
She got up and went to run, but tripped over herself. Jim reached out and caught her. The impact however caused Caitlin to vomit all over her bedroom floor. Jim held her until she was through and there was nothing left but dry heaves.  
  
"It's okay Caitlin," He said soothingly. "You're all right."  
  
Weak from everything Caitlin collapsed in Jim's arms. He picked her up and placed her back in bed. He then put his hand on her forehead and found that she was burning up.  
  
"My god."  
  
He quickly walked into the bathroom and got a cool rag. He came back in the room, sat on the edge of the bed, and started wiping down Caitlins face and neck. She looked up at him with wide eyes.  
  
"It's okay Caitlin. You're going to be all right."  
  
"Y..you're not going to hurt me are you?"  
  
Jim pulled away from her shocked at the question. "Caitlin why would you think I would hurt you? Is it because of your nightmare? Did you dream I was hurting you?"  
  
"NO!" Caitlin all but yelled. "It wasn't you," she said more calmly.  
  
"Then who was it?"  
  
Caitlin turned away from him and didn't answer. Jim didn't push.  
  
"All right Caitlin. I'm going to clean up this mess. Call me if you need anything."  
  
Just as Jim went to get up, thunder crashed again and Caitlin grabbed his arm.  
  
"NO! Don't go. Don't leave me here alone!"  
  
Jim sat back down next to her. "It's okay. I'm not going far. I just need to clean this up all right? Then I'll be right here next to you."  
  
Caitlin nodded and let go of his arm. Jim wouldn't have moved from her side, but the smell of vomit was not nice, especially when it settled. He didn't want to have to endure the smell and he was sure that Caitlin didn't want to either.  
  
Jim quickly got the supplies necessary and cleaned up the mess. He took it out of her room, and disposed of it. Then he grabbed a glass of water and a bucket and went back upstairs to see Caitlin.  
  
When he got back to her room she was sitting in her bed with her arms hugging her knees to her chest. Jim had never seen her so child like before. There was a raw pain in her eyes. It was so raw it made him hurt. More than pain, there was fear and although he had seen Caitlin scared before, it was nothing like this.  
  
"Caitlin what's wrong?"  
  
"It was just a bad dream."  
  
"Why do I have a feeling it was more than just a dream?"  
  
He walked over to her and handed her the water. "Sip on this."  
  
Caitlin took the water and did as she was told. Jim put the bucket next to the bed and sat down.  
  
"I'm sorry about making such a mess."  
  
Jim smiled. "It's all right. Everyone gets sick." His face sobered. "Caitlin I wish you would tell me what's wrong."  
  
Caitlin hugged herself tighter. "I've never told anyone."  
  
"Well maybe it's time you did."  
  
She sighed and looked away from Jim. She diverted her gaze to the now clean floor. She stared so intently it almost seemed her life depended on it.  
  
"When I was thirteen, I was sent to a foster home with this guy and his wife. Things were okay at first you know. They bought me stuff and made me feel at home. I thought I might actually have found a family who cares about me."  
  
She stopped and took a deep breath. Jim knew if she stopped now that she wouldn't finish.  
  
"So what happened?"  
  
"I was there for about three months when things started going bad."  
  
"Bad how?" Jim asked, although he was almost afraid to find out.  
  
"I came home from school one day. I wasn't feeling well. Kind of like tonight. Actually just like tonight. By the time I got in the door I knew I was going to be sick. I ran for the bathroom, but I didn't make it. I threw up all over the floor in the living room. He wasn't too happy. In fact he was really angry."  
  
"Caitlin, what did he do to you?"  
  
"He.he hit me. He hit me hard and a lot," Caitlin started to cry. "I could barely move the next day."  
  
Jim moved so he could sit next to Caitlin. He put an arm around her shoulders.  
  
"Where was your foster mother?" Jim asked, anger apparent in his voice.  
  
"She wasn't home. Even if she had been she wouldn't have done anything. I found out later that he beat her too." Caitlin leaned into Jim. "After that he started hitting me almost everyday. My social worker realized what was going on and pulled me out."  
  
"Did they put him in jail?"  
  
Caitlin shook her head against Jim's chest. "There wasn't enough proof. He told them that I fell down the stairs. His wife backed it up. She was too scared to say anything."  
  
Jim sighed and stroked her hair. "Caitlin I am so sorry."  
  
"Remember before when you asked if I was scared of thunder?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"The first time he hit me it was storming. All I remember is the pain and the thunder." She started sobbing. "He hurt me so bad."  
  
Jim embraced her and rocked her as she cried. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault."  
  
He continued to sooth and rock her until her sobs were reduced to soft hiccups. Jim looked down and saw that Caitlin was asleep against him. He eased himself off the bed and laid Caitlin down. He covered her with the blanket and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.  
  
Jim went downstairs and grabbed the rocking chair from the far corner of the living room. He carefully brought it upstairs into Caitlins room. He placed it next to the bed and sat down. He wanted to be close to her if she needed him. Whether she got sick again, or had another nightmare. Jim wanted to be there for her. 


	3. Surprises

AN: Here's the final part. I told you it was short. If everyone likes it I'll do a sequel  
  
Caitlins Diary~  
  
When I woke up Jim was still there. I couldn't believe it. I had never told anyone about 'him' beating me. I don't like to say his name. Too many bad memories. Jim helped though. He listened and he cared. He even cleaned up after me being sick. No ones ever done that. I always had to take care of myself.  
  
Jim talked to me about it some more, but I really didn't want to talk about it. The memories hurt almost as much as the bruises. Maybe I'll talk to him about it later. Right now I don't know. I just know that for the first time in my life I felt like I had a father to talk to and it felt good. It felt really good. 


End file.
